First photos ever taken of the Corn Exchange ceiling

First photos ever taken of the Corn Exchange ceiling

I am so pleased to be able to share this photograph I took of the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange in January. This is the apex of the magnificent vaulted roof. At a height of 34 ft (10.3m), this unsupported structure covers a space of 178 by 58 ft (54 by 17.6m), the widest span timber frame in the country. Legend has it that there were delays to the construction of the building 200 years ago because of the difficulty of finding large enough single spans of roof timber.

This ceiling has never been photographed up close because it has remained too difficult to get to – until now. The wooden platform shown here is laid across the top of the scaffolding birdcage that fills the open space of the Corn Exchange, giving access to the timbers for the first time in 200 years. This enables them to be examined and repaired – and photographed. Lucky me, I got to be the one for the job.

Many more of my photographs of the Corn Exchange restoration can be found here. You can read more about the progress of the work on the Brighton Dome website here.

The underwater room

The underwater room

Building materials can play the strangest visual tricks. This skylight was covered in a blue plastic film that filtered watery light down into the room below. The two light fittings were also wrapped in plastic, somehow making them appear like they were floating up the wall, accentuating the underwater feeling inside the room. I would happily have stayed there soaking up that sense of submersion. Perhaps it relates to all the time I have spent lately in and on the sea.

This watery room is in an old barn that I’ve been photographing for the past couple of years as it becomes luxury holiday accommodation. The Grain Store is nestled right in the midst of the South Downs, surrounded on all sides by soft rolling hills. You can find more photos of this project here.

Please get in touch if you have an event, a celebration or a portrait you would like to have photographed or, of course, a building project documented.

Stephen Lawrence Trust photo award shortlisted

Stephen Lawrence Trust photo award shortlisted

I was so pleased to find out that my photograph of the Stephen Lawrence Trust Centre has been shortlisted for a photography award. It feels especially significant because this has coincided with the very first Stephen Lawrence Day on 22 April.

Stephen Lawrence Day is about the part we all play in creating a society in which everyone can flourish. It is an opportunity for children and young people to have their voices heard, make the changes they’d like to see and create a society that treats everyone with fairness and respect.”

I spent a year documenting the transformation of the Centre into a co-working hub that supports up-and-coming architects. When you read the intentions and aims of the Trust in the quote above, I am sure you can see why it was such a privilege to help support their project. You can find out more about the Trust here.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss how we can work together. I deliver photographs that delve deeper than showing just the surface of things.

UPDATE: My photograph came in second place out of a shortlist of 12 in my category.

The new within the old at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange

The new within the old at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange

I have been photographing the huge beautiful windows of the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange for nearly two years now. I love that they never look quite the same depending on the time of day, the quality of light, the stage of renovation, with panes of glass and without, and sometimes covered by large sheets of semi-opaque plastic.

The amount of work that has gone into their refurbishment is enormous. The size and shape varies for every pane of glass, meaning that each one has to be individually fitted into its specific place. I counted 185 panes in just one of the 11 large windows of the main hall. In all, this has been a monumental task.

 

It was very exciting, therefore, to see the finished result this week. Several fully renovated windows were freshly painted and pointed and sporting all new glass. Within these shiny panes you can see the reflection of the new modern extension. This white steel and glass box creates a dazzling light-filled space where the exterior becomes the interior and the beautiful old windows are in pride of place.

More photographs of the refurbishment of the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange can be found here.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss how we can work together. I deliver photographs that delve deeper than showing just the surface of things.

Lost in space

Lost in space

Wishing you all a very happy New Year! A new year and a 200-year-old ceiling at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, the redevelopment I have been documenting over the past 18 months. This monumental, unsupported vaulted roof stretches across a room that is 178 by 58 feet. In other words, it is just enormous.

Over the months I have watched while workers manually stripped the paint off of each strut (there are hundreds), and slowly renewed the wood. Now shiny new bolts are reinforcing this 32ft high expanse. More photos of this fascinating project can be found here

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss how we can work together. 

Edward Hopper country

Edward Hopper country

I am currently in Boston on a pre-Christmas visit to see family and friends. Today was the bright, still New England weather that I love. There’s no snow yet, but it is cold enough for it. The photo is of my mum’s house first thing in the morning, while the sun was low and the sky was a bright blue.

Being back here always gets me thinking about memory and the deeply rooted sense of familiarity I have about this place where I grew up, heightened by the fact that I have lived in another country for half my life.

I don’t specifically mean my childhood home since this is not the house I grew up in. For me it is about many things, such as particular qualities of light, familiar styles of architecture, the road signs and how the streets are laid out, even the types of cakes in the bakery. The list is probably endless.

I don’t think of it as nostalgia, just a warm sense of knowing a place so well that it is a part of me, and an appreciation that I am able to return here to have that feeling. More of my townscape photographs can be found here.

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